Dr Adey Desta

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Location
Ethiopia
Addis Ababa University
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Departments

Science
Microbial, Cellular and Molecular Biology

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Work and Research

My research started by focusing on microbial ecology of biological wastewater treatment systems, focusing on study of the dynamics of microbial communities in pollutant degradation. Through research fellowships from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and African Biosciences Challenge Fund (ABCF), I conducted research on detection and monitoring of microbial communities in biological wastewater treatment plants of resource-poor settings. My microbial ecology study evolved to resource recovery from human waste, and the risk of antimicrobial resistance. Through the research fellowship from the University of Michigan African Presidential Scholars (UMAPS) I studied the fate of microbes and antimicrobial resistance genes during the process of nutrient recovery from human urine. The skills I'd acquired while being a UMAPS fellow helped me to extend the research of resource recovery and microbial risks to my home country Ethiopia. Since 2016, I have conducted research on monitoring antimicrobial resistance during waste-to fertilizer processing in Ethiopia through the funds secured from Addis Ababa University, PEER-USAID in partnership with the University of Michigan and SIDA in collaboration with the SLU in Uppsala. I have also been involved in One-health research with the focus on water and wastewater management in cities of low-income countries. Through these studies, I am able to advise twelve PhD and eight master's students and produce our research findings in 21 publications in the above-mentioned research areas.